Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
I LOVED this book. I'm not sure if it was the cool New England setting, the family store, the interesting characters of the mystery. It was just an all around good book.
My nine year-old daughter has recently found a love of reading and insisted I read this book that she received for Christmas. With a broken leg and more time on my hands, I agreed. I was in for a delightful surprise. This wholesome read was an enjoyable diversion -- and as it is winter, the timing was perfect for it as well. I appreciated the honest, yet positively portrayed, family dynamics and the hopeful tone of the book. Good, clean fun.
This book is crazy out of touch with the lives of middle schoolers…down to the phrases they use…. And it really bothered me that being a tall girl was made to be such a negative/big deal!!! It’s like a theme of the book. Anyway, don’t even remember where I saw this one to pick it up, but it was rough. Really rough.
This review (and others) can be found on My Full Bookshelf
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I will admit that when I found out about this book, I squealed a bit. Heather Vogel Frederick is the author of one of my all-time favorite series, The Mother Daughter Book Club. Needless to say, I had some tremendously high hopes for this book because of that.
Sadly, this one did not live up to those expectations. It was a decent book, but I had been hoping for so much more than decent--not only hoping for it, in fact, but expecting it.
This one wasn't bad by any means. One thing I loved about it is that you can just tell that the author is a total bookworm. She will reference the Little House series one moment and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase the next. It's amazing. Books play a pretty major role in the plot, too, Charlotte's Web in particular.
The book also has likeable characters. I am sure others will love Truly; I had a really hard time connecting with her, because there are just not a lot of similarities between her and me. Also, while she was by no means a bad character, I never thought she lived up to the amazing MCs of The Mother Daughter Book Club. (I am fully aware that this poor book probably suffered from my frequent comparisons to it and the aforementioned series. For that I apologize, Absolutely Truly.)
The mystery, however, failed to capture my interest in the slightest. That was what really disappointed me about this book. The plot had a couple things going for it, mainly the fact that it was so wrapped up in books, but this lukewarm mystery was not one of them. It was not fascinating; it was boring. When the blurb claimed that they go around "chasing clues that could spell danger", I was intrigued, but I now totally disagree with that. There was about one scene that was even the slightest bit dangerous, and honestly, everything turned out to be fine.
Absolutely Truly was not the best mystery out there. I liked it mostly because I'm a book geek and the fact that so many of my favorite stories were referenced in here made me super happy. I was hoping for so much more from this book, and it's kind of sad that I didn't love this. Oh well.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
I will admit that when I found out about this book, I squealed a bit. Heather Vogel Frederick is the author of one of my all-time favorite series, The Mother Daughter Book Club. Needless to say, I had some tremendously high hopes for this book because of that.
Sadly, this one did not live up to those expectations. It was a decent book, but I had been hoping for so much more than decent--not only hoping for it, in fact, but expecting it.
This one wasn't bad by any means. One thing I loved about it is that you can just tell that the author is a total bookworm. She will reference the Little House series one moment and The Wolves of Willoughby Chase the next. It's amazing. Books play a pretty major role in the plot, too, Charlotte's Web in particular.
The book also has likeable characters. I am sure others will love Truly; I had a really hard time connecting with her, because there are just not a lot of similarities between her and me. Also, while she was by no means a bad character, I never thought she lived up to the amazing MCs of The Mother Daughter Book Club. (I am fully aware that this poor book probably suffered from my frequent comparisons to it and the aforementioned series. For that I apologize, Absolutely Truly.)
The mystery, however, failed to capture my interest in the slightest. That was what really disappointed me about this book. The plot had a couple things going for it, mainly the fact that it was so wrapped up in books, but this lukewarm mystery was not one of them. It was not fascinating; it was boring. When the blurb claimed that they go around "chasing clues that could spell danger", I was intrigued, but I now totally disagree with that. There was about one scene that was even the slightest bit dangerous, and honestly, everything turned out to be fine.
Absolutely Truly was not the best mystery out there. I liked it mostly because I'm a book geek and the fact that so many of my favorite stories were referenced in here made me super happy. I was hoping for so much more from this book, and it's kind of sad that I didn't love this. Oh well.
truly lovejoy is the third of five siblings in her military family and always feels lost in the shuffle, despite her looming height at only age twelve. now that her lieutenant colonel helicopter pilot father's retiring, the family is finally settling down, right down the street from their cousins in texas. but disaster strikes in afganistan mere days before truly's father is supposed to come home, and while he's alive, he comes back a different man entirely: no longer smiling, no longer laughing.
so, they move to middle-of-nowhere pumpkin falls, new hampshire in the dead of winter, the tiny, frozen town where truly's father grew up, to take over the struggling family bookshop, lovejoy's books. initially miserable, truly finds herself reluctantly enjoying this town – working at the bookshop, birding, and making unexpected friends that solve mysteries together as the pumpkin falls private eyes.
i enjoyed this book, especially the first two-thirds, but the ending dropped off a bit for me. the mystery wasn't as enticing an element as i expected, considering the book is labeled "a pumpkin falls mystery." there don't seem to be any stakes, and then the mystery sort of dissipates at the end.
i wish more had been done with truly's father. very little was in the text other than bits here and there of him being stubborn about his injury. in addition, hatcher is pegged as truly's favorite sibling, but we get very little from him other than his trademark sunshine smile. a lot of the character fall rather flat, actually, even truly's group of friends. everyone has one standout trait, but that's pretty much it: from dancer cha cha to shy lucas to boy-crushing jasmine. while i enjoyed the friendship interactions, i felt the author could have delved a lot deeper.
i do love the characters of aunt true, kindergarteners pippa and baxter, kitten whisperer belinda winchester, shakespeare enthusiast dr. calhoun, and truly's mother dinah. but i was disappointed that all my favorite characters were sort of shuffled off to the side (with the possible exception of aunt true); i really wanted to see more of them. i will likely read the next book, yours truly, primarily to see more of those characters.
overall, though, this was a cozy, wintery read. love the minuscule town of pumpkin falls, the family bookshop, the charlotte's web reverence, the owls, the textured cover, etc. just wished for deeper character development and deeper complexities in the plot. 3.5/5 stars!
so, they move to middle-of-nowhere pumpkin falls, new hampshire in the dead of winter, the tiny, frozen town where truly's father grew up, to take over the struggling family bookshop, lovejoy's books. initially miserable, truly finds herself reluctantly enjoying this town – working at the bookshop, birding, and making unexpected friends that solve mysteries together as the pumpkin falls private eyes.
i enjoyed this book, especially the first two-thirds, but the ending dropped off a bit for me. the mystery wasn't as enticing an element as i expected, considering the book is labeled "a pumpkin falls mystery." there don't seem to be any stakes, and then the mystery sort of dissipates at the end.
i wish more had been done with truly's father. very little was in the text other than bits here and there of him being stubborn about his injury. in addition, hatcher is pegged as truly's favorite sibling, but we get very little from him other than his trademark sunshine smile. a lot of the character fall rather flat, actually, even truly's group of friends. everyone has one standout trait, but that's pretty much it: from dancer cha cha to shy lucas to boy-crushing jasmine. while i enjoyed the friendship interactions, i felt the author could have delved a lot deeper.
i do love the characters of aunt true, kindergarteners pippa and baxter, kitten whisperer belinda winchester, shakespeare enthusiast dr. calhoun, and truly's mother dinah. but i was disappointed that all my favorite characters were sort of shuffled off to the side (with the possible exception of aunt true); i really wanted to see more of them. i will likely read the next book, yours truly, primarily to see more of those characters.
overall, though, this was a cozy, wintery read. love the minuscule town of pumpkin falls, the family bookshop, the charlotte's web reverence, the owls, the textured cover, etc. just wished for deeper character development and deeper complexities in the plot. 3.5/5 stars!
Second read of this story and it's still as charming as the first time I read it. This is a great series with fantastic characters. I am looking forward to a reread of book 2 and then finally reading 3 for the first time. I am also excited to learn that there will be a 4th story next year!
Black Friday. That's the day Truly Lovejoy's world turned upside down. The day her father lost his arm in Afghanistan. They have had to move from their new home in Austin to the family home in the tiny town of Pumpkin Falls, New Hampshire. Truly feels invisible, and her father has shut down completely. As she struggles to find herself, she discovers a decades old mystery hidden in the family bookshop. Gathering friends as she gathers clues, Truly discovers that Pumpkin Falls isn't such a bad place to live after all.
Just like her Mother-Daughter Book Club series, this book weaves book recommendations throughout. I hope that it is a start to another series!
Just like her Mother-Daughter Book Club series, this book weaves book recommendations throughout. I hope that it is a start to another series!
slow-paced
